Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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Letting Myself Be Led in the Present Moment

1-31-08 Messages

Mary:  Right now I feel this whole “move to Florida” is an exercise in staying in the present moment and listening for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I have carried with me such a habit of planning for the future on my own. The lesson Holy Spirit is leading me through is to let myself be led in the present moment.

For example, early this morning I thought that maybe it would be good to start working on clearing out things in the back office. When I went to Spirit with it, Spirit showed me a better way. We have still not finished clearing the top shelves of our bedroom closet. Spirit recommended that this be done first and take the things we don’t need to Goodwill. It will provide the space that will be needed for things from the back office. We are going to paint the back office so the whole room will need to be cleared out.

Holy Spirit:  Consider every day your lab time in Holy Spirit’s school of awakening from the dream. In truth there is no past and there is no future. You are learning now to stay in the present moment and listen to your Teacher Who will teach you what is best for the present moment as you step back and listen.

Your confidence will build day by day as you will see that it works so beautifully. As your confidence grows, your habit of stepping back and listening for guidance will be strong and clear. Your trust will be strong. Your levels of peace and joy will blossom as you realize you are in Holy Spirit’s garden.

Remember daily, hourly, that you do not know, but inside there is your Teacher Who does know. Let yourself be taught moment by moment and you will be brought to the awareness of Love’s Presence. You will return to Heaven.

Robert:  I have had a habit of seeing that something needs to be done and jumping in and doing what I think it is. There are two problems with this approach. First when I’m in this mode, I’m not stepping back and listening to Spirit’s lead. I’m fully engaged in my own plan. Second, the habit of doing it myself limits what can be accomplished to what I can do myself. There are old ego thoughts in the back of my mind like, “If you want it done right, do it yourself.” “It needs to be done now so I need to do it.” 

There is another more subtle hidden agenda. I’ve observed that if I pass on the project to someone else, I don’t get the feeling of accomplishment when it’s done. These are examples of the ego’s insanity, self-centered focus and limited thinking. Who’s in charge here? This attitude is not an attitude of service to the whole. It keeps me in a box, slows me down and limits the fulfillment that comes with serving Holy Spirit’s plan and awakening to Love.

The lab time that the move to Florida provides is an opportunity for me to practice living with a different attitude, an attitude of accepting help. It starts with accepting Holy Spirit’s help. I see that my unwillingness to have others help with projects is an outer effect of unwillingness to accept Holy Spirit’s help. Once again the world is always a reflection of my thoughts. Because of these old habits I need to be very vigilant to maintain an openness to Holy Spirit’s guidance and not go off into planning on my own.

Holy Spirit:  You have often observed that your best time management occurs when you step back and let Me lead the way. You have given yourself an opportunity now to practice this again and again, day by day, hour by hour. In your heart you want to learn this lesson well. So you have put yourself in the perfect classroom to learn it.

There are many, many benefits you do not yet see that will come from this practice. It is part of expanding your circle of inclusion, of joining with many who share your dedication to awakening and helping your brothers do the same. You will experience great joy in this joining. The fulfillment you have felt from accomplishment of your individual projects will be eclipsed by the joy and gratitude of experiencing the helpfulness that comes with joining.

The Pathways of Light courses provide tools to help people awaken from the dream and help them help others awaken. The practice of accepting Holy Spirit’s help and accepting the help of “others” with the move to Florida is setting the stage for developing more helpful tools for awakening from the dream. The exercise of moving to Florida as a practice for following Holy Spirit’s lead is preparation for an expanded level of helpfulness.

Listen, follow, accept and trust. This is how you open to the expression of God’s limitless abundance.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Give Your Day to God

Mary: Yesterday we took our first load of “stuff” to a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store. By emptying those shelves, it made a clear and open space for storing the things that are still needed in our service to Spirit. It felt so good to let go of what we did not need and pass it on to someone who has use for it. I think this is symbolic of our need to make room for God. At times the world crowds in so strongly that it seems that there is no time left to be still and listen. If my mind is too filled up with worldly concerns, it is not open to receive what God has to give.

It is amazing the many gifts this move is offering that I did not foresee. Cleaning closets has not been at the top of my most favorite things to do. But now that I am doing it, it is bringing me a great sense of happiness and fulfillment.

Holy Spirit: As you go through your day, give your day to God. Allow it to unfold as God would have it be. It will be filled with peace. It will be filled with trust. It will be filled with Love. Follow each moment and trust in the Holy Spirit’s plan, not your own.

Robert:  I am seeing the value and blessing that comes with being willing to step back and follow Holy Spirit’s lead. The Holy Spirit is in our minds to bring us God’s gifts of peace and Love and happiness. Choosing to ignore the Holy Spirit in my mind is choosing against peace, Love and happiness. With this recognition, the insanity of choosing not to listen and follow is obvious.

The day by day, moment by moment practice of following and not deciding on my own is becoming more and more motivating. The appeal of the gifts that come with following are incentives to keep practicing. I like having peaceful days. I like being happy. I like not having to struggle.

I’m not sure I could say that I follow Holy Spirit as much as 50% of the time. I have a well established habit of believing in my own ability to solve problems. The temptation to shift into “mister fix it” mode is ever present. But I catch myself more quickly now. I am teachable. I am learning that I like the results better when I follow Holy Spirit instead of the plans I make on my own. When I follow Holy Spirit, it is always a joy ride. I am willing to keep practicing.

Holy Spirit:  Stay in ease. Stay in peace. This is how you keep your communication open to receive My inspiration. When there is a sense of struggle or difficulty, it is a sure sign that you are defending against the images of the world and have closed your mind to My lead. By staying mindful of your condition of ease and peace, you can quickly step back from defenses and open your mind once again to my gentle guidance. Hold to ease and peace today and it will be a happy day.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Accepting the Gift of the Present

1/28/08

Sharyn: My head feels filled with so many thoughts coming in about distrust or self-worth, not living in the moment—futurizing or living in the past. It’s thoughts of letting go.

Holy Spirit: Letting go is only as hard as you make it. I will go before you and prepare everything so that there is no need to fret or worry, no stones to trip on. I will clear the road and may way for your happiness. Sometimes when you can’t physically see where you are going, the ego mind brings in a lot of distrust.  That’s ego. Just think, “I’m willing to let this go. I’m willing to trust that whatever happens or wherever I go, I am being led by You, Holy Spirit. I’m willing to trust that only You know what is best for me.”

All the thoughts that go through my mind are a result of not living in the moment. This very moment is a gift. This very moment is the time I am given to spend with Holy Spirit. When I live in the moment, there can never be worries or concerns of letting go or how will this happen, or how will that happen. Because all those thoughts are either trying to bring the past to the present or trying to figure out the future. By doing that, I lose the gift of the present.

The present is all there is to see. The present is the only time to be Me. The present moment is God’s gift to you to spend with Me and allow Me to guide you and carry you. That truly is the only meaningful purpose of time. Walk with Me and talk with Me and be aware of My presence every moment. Live in the now and your life will be much happier, easier and fulfilled.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Accepting God’s Gifts

Mary:  With so much going on in our lives right now, e.g. Pathways course translations, clearing out the clutter, looking at possible renovation ideas to enhance the value of the property, I find it challenging sometimes to let my mind completely quiet. One way that has worked particularly well for me is to imagine that I am under a waterfall of Holy Spirit’s Light. I imagine that I am like a sponge absorbing the healing peace and quietness that comes when I am willing to accept God’s gifts.

As I do this, it seems that the Holy Spirit just takes over with no efforting on my part. It seems like I become the observer as I feel the level of peace deepen as the Holy Spirit does Its healing work in my mind. It becomes easier to relax even deeper and just give in to it, instead of resisting it. It feels like I’m being carried.

Holy Spirit:  Often it is helpful to use these images to ramp you into a place of peace when all the thoughts of the world crowd your mind and you find it difficult to let your mind quiet and listen. Each person will find their own images that work for them. What is most important is your level of willingness to let the Holy Spirit help you. As you are willing to let go of the reigns, the Holy Spirit knows just what to do to help you in a way that is perfect for you right now.

You are in Holy Spirit’s school, and the Holy Spirit is the best Teacher you can possibly have. Your Mentor within is always ready and willing to bring you to a greater level of awareness of the truth. The Holy Spirit will show you where your true inner strength lies. The Holy Spirit will fill you with a knowing that you are truly safe, you are truly innocent, you are truly loved and you are still Home in God.

In the dream there is a constant flow of “problems.”  As you willingly let yourself be transported above the problems of the world, you are able to feel the feeling of inner calm and peace that has nothing to do with this world. You give your mind a rest from all the busy doings of the day. These times of rest are very important. They give you a different outlook, a sense of calmness and well being that deeply nourishes that part within you that wants to return Home. Then, when you go back to the activities of the world, you can carry that feeling of peace and inner strength with you so you are able to handle situations with a sense of well being and love. You know that everything is all right, no matter what problem shows up in the dream in the moment.

This the gift the Holy Spirit brings you. It is a gift beyond measure. It liberates you from the ups and downs of the world and brings you sense of certainty and confidence that you have all the help you need for every circumstance that shows up in your dream. You know your inner Teacher is right there with you, leading the way and giving you inspiration as is needed.

Robert:  As we take steps along the path leading to Florida as guided by Spirit, the certainty that Spirit does want us in Florida to do our part in His plan becomes stronger. There does not seem to be much resistance in me to this move. Where the resistance does seem to show up is in the letting go of clutter and doing the clearing that is part of the process. Resistance is resistance, no matter the form. The ego is clever at disguising its defenses. But any defense reflects a wish to make separation real and deny our unity with Love. No matter the appearance, this is the underlying motive.

Holy Spirit:  As has been said several times before, the forms and images in the world are simply symbols of your beliefs and thoughts. They are an outward reflection of an inward condition. Each time you let go of a form in the world, be it an old sock or a 40 acre property, it symbolizes your release from identification with form and a step toward your recognition of your eternal formlessness in Love.

The steps you take on this path lead you to joy beyond words. It leads you to the reuniting of the will you thought was your own with the Will of God, which has always been yours in truth. Is it not worth letting go of an old sock to take a step toward your return Home?

When you are deciding between keeping an attachment to form or letting it go, there is no order of value to your awakening between deciding to let go of an old sock or deciding to let go of a place you have called home for 20 years. Both are really the same decision. You decide between identifying with separation and moving toward identifying with your holiness. There is no lesser order of magnitude. You are deciding between identifying with nothing and claiming everything that is given you by God.

So as you go through your day sorting the discards from the ‘keepers,’ pay attention to how each decision feels. Does it feel like it would be helpful on your path of awakening or does it feel like it is anchoring you in the past and the world of form? The first will feel light, happy, peaceful and energizing. The latter will feel heavy, empty or lifeless. Try using this today. Be aware of how it serves you in your process of moving forward on the path to Florida.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Recognizing Forms of Defense

Robert: I could be called a second generation pack rat. I save things thinking they may be helpful some day. And it seems like I do need something I saved just frequently enough to justify continuing the pack rat habit. I am seeing now how this is just another form of defense. Saving something I have no use for now but may someday is a form of planning for my safety. It represents a belief that sometime in the future I may experience lack, so I need to prepare for it now.

As we prepare for the move, I am faced with all those defenses of the past in the form of collections of stuff that I haven’t needed for years. Even now my tendency is to think I might still need it. Once again it is an opportunity to practice following Holy Spirit’s lead. It is helpful that I have no idea what the circumstances we will be moving to will be like. It forces me not to depend on my own “reasoning” to prepare for the future.

There are things that will be helpful to take with us, but the decision to take or leave needs to be made with the Holy Spirit. When I step back and honestly and openly ask for help, decisions become simple and easy. When I try to add my defenses into the decision making, the decisions become complicated and hard.

Holy Spirit: You are being carried. You have always been carried. When you honestly look back at your life experiences, you see that even in the darkest moments, you were being carried. You will always be carried because the strength of God is always in you.

Your attempts to prepare for the future come from your belief that you have separated yourself from God. That could never be, though you can dream of being alone and weak. This experience of moving can serve your awakening well if you use it as your strength conditioning to develop your trust muscles.

Having placed your trust in your own isolated identity, you have every reason to feel weak and vulnerable. This is only because you have placed your trust in empty images. Now you can practice placing your trust in the strength of God in you that is your own. Your trust may seem easily shaken, but that is only because you associate trust with belief in empty images.

Now you have an opportunity to practice placing your trust in all the Power That is, all the strength. As you allow yourself to experience the effects of placing your trust in strength instead of weakness, it will become easier and easier. You will feel less and less of a need to hang on to things, be they forms or simply beliefs in your mind, in order to feel safe. You will learn that you are absolutely safe beyond question. So today is another day bringing you rich opportunity to practice remembering that the strength of God in you goes with your wherever you go.

Mary:  It is abundantly clear that we could not do this move without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is abundantly clear that we know nothing on our own. What a great practice this is, giving each day to the Holy Spirit. Each day seems to bring up new questions, new possibilities as to which steps we should take each day. Do we renovate these facilities or do we leave that to the new owner?

The Holy Spirit knows the big picture for each step along the way that would be the most helpful for everyone concerned. In this game of separate bodies with separate minds, we can not possibly know what would be truly helpful for everyone concerned. This means that the practice of stepping back and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead with every step in this process gets strengthened day by day.

Holy Spirit:  Remember again that you are in a school and that the Holy Spirit is the Teacher. Remember again that it is only the Holy Spirit That knows what everything is for. Take today and treat today as lab time in refining the practice of stepping back and listening for Holy Spirit’s guidance. Hour by hour, and sometimes minute by minute, you are learning to let go of thinking that you know anything.

You are learning that the identity you have identified with is ultimately nowhere and nothing. You have nothing individually to defend against because there is no such thing as individuality. You are learning to side with the truth that only Love is real and that the ego’s image making is not what you want to make real. You are learning to allow the Holy Spirit to write the script instead of judging anything on your own. Learning this from Holy Spirit’s school is the most important thing you can learn.

In truth you reside outside of time and individual forms. In truth you remain as God created you. This is why you are invulnerable. This is why you are safe. This why your natural Home is in God’s peace. Allow yourself to remember this. Allow yourself to strengthen the consistent habit of allowing the Holy Spirit to write the dream script and give you the meaning behind everything that shows up in the dream. This is how you teach through demonstration.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Laying Down My Defenses

Robert:  As I read lesson 153 again and again, its becoming more and more comforting to me. it is a wonderful promise that there is a way out of the world of uncertainty. It is a promise that Help is always with me. I need only to be willing to accept it, and I accept it by laying down my defenses. It brings a feeling of relief. As I allow myself to adsorb the message of this lesson, I feel my shoulders relax, my forehead soften and I breathe easier. I really can set aside the defenses i have thought were so important to my survival. There is a way of peace and happiness that is not of this world, though I can carry it with me in all the doings to which I am directed by the Holy Spirit. My heart is filled with gratitude.

Holy Spirit:  Listen. To listen to My guidance you need to be in peace. It need not be perfect peace, but you do need to set aside the raucous thoughts of the ego with enough willingness to be open to My thoughts. This allows Me to give My gift of perfect peace.

In times when it seems difficult to set aside the ego’s myriad forms of defense, ask for My Help. When you ask, you are opening your mind and heart to a better way. I do not need to be asked, for I am eternally giving. But your asking is an opening of your mind and heart to receive. Asking signifies a willingness to receive. It is a message to yourself that you do not have what you need and are willing to receive it.

Of course, you really do have everything you need, but when you identify with the ego thought system, you believe you are lacking and so you need to acknowledge the lack you are believing in by asking for help. This does not mean that you need to identify a specific lack you are believing in. It merely means that you must be willing to receive what you believe you do not have, which is God’s Love.

My job as the Voice for God is to show you God’s Love in symbols that you can recognize. That is how I bridge between the reality of Heaven, your Home, and the dream of separation you believe you are in. Be willing to ask for help. Be willing to receive My help. I am always here ready to give you the gift of perfect peace and quiet joy.

Mary: Because we are getting the house ready to show to prospective buyers, we are in the process of letting go of the clutter. Until I really started looking closely, I didn’t realize how much clutter there was. I just looked past it, so I didn’t see it. I think that is also symbolic of my lessons in my spiritual life.

Throughout this process of moving to Florida, my job is to allow the Holy Spirit to show me the unnecessary clutter that is in the way of my being aware of Love’s eternal Presence. Love is always there, but I will not be aware of it if my mind is cluttered with thought that stem from belief in separation.

My job is to walk through all of this and allow the Holy Spirit to show me the thoughts that are hindering my awareness of Love’s Presence. As I see them with Holy Spirit and recognize them for what they are, I will easily let the Holy Spirit shine them away. This de-cluttering is very important in Holy Spirit’s school. I must see the barriers for what they are before I am willing to let them go.

This is an ongoing process that takes time, just as the physical move to Florida takes time. I am seeing that they symbols that show up in the world are there to teach me what needs to happen in my mind. I am grateful to follow Holy Spirit’s instruction so that by the time we do move to Florida, a great amount of clutter will be removed, both spiritually and physically. That gives much deeper meaning to this move.

I am learning to lighten up in many ways. It feels good. I am so grateful that I have a Teacher That is leading me through this moving “maze” as I go through the lessons brought to me each day. I know that I am to do what is there right in front of me, clearing the pathway to the next step. I am seeing that it isn’t helpful for me to try to think of three steps ahead, but rather stay in the present moment and do what is right there before me.

The lesson that I am to learn is always right here, right now. With Holy Spirit’s help, I take each step that clears the way for the next. Removing the clutter ceases to be such a daunting task. What is right in front of me right now is where I need to have my focus, holding Holy Spirit’s Hand. What a wonderful school I am in. It is so uplifting and I feel so supported.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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With Peace Comes Understanding

Robert:  The temptation to plan is amazingly strong. Yesterday we talked about how we would make the move and juggle the sale of the property in Wisconsin and the purchase of property in Florida. As we talked our heads began to swim in all the details. Fortunately we got the message: Don’t plan anything on your own. So we let it go.

It seems as though we need to be prepared. But when we leave Holy Spirit out of the preparation, we are not playing with a full deck. With only a partial deck, there is no way to have a winning hand, no matter how good you are at playing the game. So today is another day to practice letting go of my solo planning and following Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit:  Be mindful of your state of peace. Be unwilling to tolerate any loss of peace. This vigilance will keep your way smooth because in peace comes understanding. The Voice for God comes in peace and strengthens your peace. Peace is a characteristic of defenselessness. When you are truly defenseless, it is because you are remembering the strength of God in you, which truly has no opposition. Peace.

Your skill in vigilance is well honed, but has been misdirected. You have used vigilance to be alert for signs of threat because you have identified with the ego thought system. Now you are being asked to redirect your vigilance to the Holy Spirit’s thought system, which is your real thought system. The Holy Spirit thought system is singular: Only Love is real. No thought but this exists in truth.

Being the bridge between the united Love of God and the divided world of the ego, the Holy Spirit offers you thoughts in the world that guide you back to the one Thought of Love. That is His purpose, His gift. Use your vigilance to focus on accepting His gift and your joy will be great, your quiet certainty undisturbed. You will know without doubt that you are eternally in God. You will know you are loved. And being loved, you will love without reservation.

Mary:  Yesterday we began the clearing out process. As I was clearing out drawers, I couldn’t believe how many socks I had collected. I’m thinking now that it is a good thing to move once in a while to get rid of the stuff that I no longer need.

I think this is symbolic of moving spiritually. As I continue to practice letting Holy Spirit take the lead, I will naturally be led to clear out the mental drawers that I might not be consciously aware of but that are still there. Just like to the old socks in the back of the bottom drawer, there are old thoughts that need to be cleared out. Holy Spirit knows how to find these old drawers and as I am willing to let them go, the Holy Spirit shines His Light on them and they disappear.

My job right now is clearing out and letting go of everything I do not need. It is the Holy Spirit That shows me what I need. I now take some time to rest in Holy Spirit’s healing bath of peace. There I am rejuvenated. There I remember that God is my strength and vision is His gift.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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